Special Economic Zones

(1,450 words)

In 1979 the Chinese government decided to initiate economic reforms in selected areas of the two provinces Fujian and
Guangdong
, in other words, to establish "capitalist" enclaves there. In 1980 the government designated four Special Economic Zones (SEZ): Xiamen (Fujian province), Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shantou (Guangdong province). In 1988 the entire island of Hainan was also made a SEZ (see plate VI). The rationale for the establishment of the SEZs was to open selected areas for foreign investment, to promote export-oriented industrialization in these zones, to introduc…